The Christian Petersen Art Museum is hosting a date night for students to take a break from school and socialize.

The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and include free food, crafts and a selfie station.

The goal of the event is to provide the campus community with an opportunity to enjoy art in a non-formal setting. People often view the museum as a formal and curriculum-based environment, but staff hopes the event will promote the space as a place to hang out and relax.

The date night is the museum’s first event following its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Setbacks since the 2020 quarantine put several of the museum’s events on hold as cases continued to rise and fall.

The museum staff are excited to re-open the doors but urge attendees to follow health and safety regulations to prevent the spread of sickness.

“We want students to feel comfortable and safe during date night,” Caitlyn Patton, a museum intern, said. “We want them to still maintain the 6-foot rule and think twice if they don’t feel well before coming in.”

The event will feature the museum’s newest exhibit, “Double Take: Insights on Figural Expression.” Upon entry, visitors will encounter artworks ranging from ancient Egyptian sculptures to New Yorker cartoons.

“The exhibition is focused around stylized figures,” Sydney Marshall, museum curator, said.“It’s about stylization around things such as New Yorker cartoons and ceremonial objects to show a transformation, power and self-reflection on identity through the stylization of the body.”

The exhibit is an opportunity to display art pieces often not seen together. Each work was taken out of storage and combined to form a new theme, so visitors could learn about different historical pieces and show self-reflection of the body.

“We want to encourage students to ask questions and think critically and engage with each other,” Marshall said.

The exhibit strips the human body down to its essential parts to encourage viewers to think freely about diverse backgrounds and break through social barriers.

During the event, museum staff encourages visitors to reflect on the decisions involved in creating the collection and discover that each person on campus has more in common with one another than they initially believed.

“It’s not just something for couples,” Patton said. “This isn’t an exclusive event just for two people. You can come with friends, by yourself. There is no limit to who can come in and just enjoy a good time.”

Additional information on the event and the exhibit can be found on the Christian Petersen Art Museum’s website.